Learn about how panetone, the holiday bread speckled with dried fruit, was invented by a lovesick Milan man in the 17th century.
Discover the wild desserts served at decadent Carnevale festivals in Venice during Cassanova’s day.
Find out why newlyweds in ancient Rome had their honeymoon bedrooms filled with walnuts and were served walnut desserts at the wedding feast.
I’m definitely including a talk on dessert liquors, like vin santo and a few Italian cordials. I’m also serving a fabulous dessert drink with Prosecco, it’s called “Scroppino”—a sort of grown up smoothie—lemon sorbet whirled in a blender with prosecco, the sparkling Italian wine. I’ll be serving a total of a dozen desserts, plus the vin santo, scroppino, and 2 Italian liquors. One liquor is made with Italian truffles! The other with a special Italian cherry found only in the Veneto region of Italy.
I’ll also be serving:
· Passion Fruit Rum Baba
· Cannoli
· Cantucci & vin santo (biscotti that go specifically with a sweet Italian dessert wine)
· Maccedonia di frutta secca (a fab mix of diced dried fruits, nuts, chocolate, and Italian crushed cookies topped with liquor)
· “Black Rice”—Riso Nero, an Italian chocolate rice pudding created in Sicily
The marzipan sculpting will be hands on, plus a Powerpoint, and I’ll do a quick cooking demo or two.
